Real (Estate) Talk: Neither fair nor a haven, NAR’s Fairhaven is just what we need

<div> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As featured in my <a href="https://www.inman.com/2020/11/24/real-estate-talk-neither-fair-nor-a-haven-nars-fairhaven-is-what-we-need/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">monthly Inman News column</span></a>.   </span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><i>'Another short sighted article by NAR on the more complex issues realtors and their brokers deal with when assisting clients with both purchasing and selling residential properties.  Why always make it about race? Shame on your NAR!' -- Comment on REALTOR® Magazine Live Article, '<a href="https://magazine.realtor/daily-news/2020/11/11/helping-brokers-fight-discrimination" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Helping Brokers Fight Discrimination</span></a>'  </i></span></blockquote><p><br /></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAVdXqBQ7zP_TUc1YvbtnhkwUUxODBFsQlt-DoBZd3bkzNr5pxv0SzTkuyvRIjDzcV8DXoo4RgvJQJI43udfoVy4m9Ra99BiwaVjoAH2O_g_zGVOWIk9hYHVjoKgDQ4fLK-f7dja1FyE/s1318/Screen+Shot+2020-11-30+at+12.59.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="104" data-original-width="1318" height="50" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAVdXqBQ7zP_TUc1YvbtnhkwUUxODBFsQlt-DoBZd3bkzNr5pxv0SzTkuyvRIjDzcV8DXoo4RgvJQJI43udfoVy4m9Ra99BiwaVjoAH2O_g_zGVOWIk9hYHVjoKgDQ4fLK-f7dja1FyE/w640-h50/Screen+Shot+2020-11-30+at+12.59.06+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> Some of us are dealing with fatigue. Pandemic fatigue. Protest fatigue. And both may include fatigue surrounding race, racism, and other needs of protected classes. This commenter's frustration is valid and it likely represents how many of us feel so I dare not brush past it. There are indeed other complex issues that REALTORS® are facing and addressing, such as low housing inventory, natural disasters, disruptive technology, the uptick of bank and mortgage defaults just this month, and the like.  </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">But here is the mind-binder, most of these other challenges today, were not present consecutively for ten or twenty or fifty years. For the people in the back, I will repeat myself: These other challenges have not been non-stop, unrelenting year after year after year. Yet, the disregard for the legal rights of those in protected classes has been a battle since those lawful rights were granted in 1968, 1974 and 1988 (c.f. <a href="https://www.inman.com/2020/07/15/there-goes-the-neighborhood-the-history-of-race-and-homeownership/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">There Goes the Neighborhood: The history of race and homeownership</span></a>). Thus, it is not that any of our challenges are to be ignored but it is finally high-time we get fair housing right. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Remember how in college those that did not pass a core subject typically had to repeat it? Retaking one course did not stop your progression in other subject matters on a different track (retaking Calculus likely did not stop your Shakespearian class). Likewise, we as a collective industry have to retake our fair housing studies (which does not have to be a deterrent for other matters) until we either make it a realization for all protected classes (that is our passing grade) or retire. I hope you, like me, want to see the betterment of our industry by getting fair housing -- it's the law -- right. To help us as an industry, the National Association of Realtors has literally upped its 'game' to help us get fair housing right.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><h1><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">Fairhaven Has Me 'In My Feelings'</span></h1><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Every since I have lived in metro Atlanta, for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I make it a point to visit the various museums that simulate and allow us as patrons to personally experience what it was like to be a <a href="https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/programs/martin-luther-king-jr.-day-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">freedom rider</span></a>, <a href="https://www.civilandhumanrights.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">lunch counter sit-in protester</span></a>, an <a href="https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/?p=for-schools/educator-resources/cultural-experience-project-study-guide" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">enslaved Civil War soldier</span></a> and others that bravely faced discrimination along with hearing firsthand-accounts from survivors of these bygone eras. Those brief, manufactured experiences in someone else's shoes are emotionally taxing but heighten our awareness of the struggles of those that have come before us. The fact that we can say it is too much and choose to walk away embeds the pain of those who could not walk away. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Real talk, that is how I felt when I visited Fairhaven. Not the actual city in Massachusetts or the fictional city in <i>Need for Speed</i>. Rather, the Fairhaven I am referring to is the <a href="https://www.inman.com/2020/11/20/nar-apologizes-for-shameful-past-housing-discrimination/"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">National Association of Realtor's</span></a> new <a href="https://fairhaven.realtor/home" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">online fair housing simulation</span></a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLAj1JhVtp-grhXJND1QBGfDjiBN34ltpJ03nvZNE9G9GLB52Fi3hgfp5Os8dGc0ZxfiiKvd8FnLIKhlDoCdVoBEkGmTG7pAfanI8tbKqK93PNY6aJdEhb6tg10avviW__1_e7I_pBpdA/s2517/Screen+Shot+2020-11-20+at+6.52.27+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1249" data-original-width="2517" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLAj1JhVtp-grhXJND1QBGfDjiBN34ltpJ03nvZNE9G9GLB52Fi3hgfp5Os8dGc0ZxfiiKvd8FnLIKhlDoCdVoBEkGmTG7pAfanI8tbKqK93PNY6aJdEhb6tg10avviW__1_e7I_pBpdA/w640-h318/Screen+Shot+2020-11-20+at+6.52.27+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"></span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">When you visit <a href="https://fairhaven.realtor"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">https://fairhaven.realtor</span></a>, you are just a click away from launching the web-based virtual game-like world. Those of you already geared up with PS5 and acquainted with virtual worlds will likely see this as a piece of cake that is perhaps too simplistic for your sophisticated gaming abilities. But the user-friendliness of NAR's Fairhaven hopefully gives all of the pros even more reason to be early adopters and finishers of this simulation. For the rest of us, you will welcome the guided prompts with tips and instructions throughout NAR's Fairhaven. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">In this first iteration, after logging in with your NRDS number, you will simply click 'Continue' (or the forward arrow in some instances) to advance to the next screen throughout your entire time in NAR's Fairhaven.  In true gaming fashion, NAR's Fairhaven does not give an outline of the different simulations of buying and selling you will encounter -- that is part of the surprise and fun of gaming. However, at the start you are informed that the goal is to complete 4 transactions/sales by the end of the simulation based on the various scenarios that you will face. How that will happen is the mystery that will be determined by your responses to the prompts throughout the various scenarios, since they are not outlined in advance (so no cheating). </span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">For those of you like me (competitive!), I can imagine that your competitive senses are tingling and you may be itching to play just to prove you can close all 4 deals.  That's great! To encourage a 'buzz' around Fairhaven, I wish there was a leaderboard that shows scores and times and even allows us to high-five each other (like I do when riding with Peloton).</span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> I am halfway through the simulation (with 2 of my 4 transactions closed, <em>womp womp!</em>) and had to just step away, again recognizing the privilege of being able to step away from NAR's Fairhaven's simulations of discrimination, as that's not always an option as illustrated by the real stories in NAR's Fairhaven.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixSQ5jRXh4jrXK9PGEfdZCQIQFAx6sr3WeHpQz0q50BaHGmfcqnTbgknOnsoyOKwV32jEo9t57R1gZIiTwDfaP1hwzh0KnOj7lL1xZ-4zeqy7-L1rPT9XBen7Nk-MQE-VxGc1n8OalE4w/s2048/Screen+Shot+2020-11-20+at+5.18.14+PM.png"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixSQ5jRXh4jrXK9PGEfdZCQIQFAx6sr3WeHpQz0q50BaHGmfcqnTbgknOnsoyOKwV32jEo9t57R1gZIiTwDfaP1hwzh0KnOj7lL1xZ-4zeqy7-L1rPT9XBen7Nk-MQE-VxGc1n8OalE4w/w640-h400/Screen+Shot+2020-11-20+at+5.18.14+PM.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> In the roughly 30 minutes (about halfway) that I have been in NAR's Fairhaven, I have had to make decisions surrounding timely topics including: </span><ul style="text-align: left;"> <li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Gender identity</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Disability accessibility</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Language barriers</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">LGBTQ+ partners</span></li> <li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Assigning clients with agents because they share a protected class (Scenario example: You're Asian, so you <i><b>must</b></i> want to work with someone Asian regardless of whether the agent is Japanese and you are Korean).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Covert discrimination and unfair treatment</span> </li></ul><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> All that in just 30 minutes, <i>whew</i>! The music is somber throughout, and rightfully so, except when I closed a sale.  </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="b-hbp-video b-uploaded" frameborder="0" height="266" id="BLOGGER-video-767ad74c934c5f38-17607" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwk_VDY-l3t0axfhfFboDG0LADi3x_I13W_xT3ev-o6Dr9rtNa_LPscEpQ_hmPmRGG72AYmicY7RoEIRWBxgOTKwLg0ahGZRdb9qGLjFy2zfooEORpkpBaidT9aCzxKvATQ6p8z&origin=www.learnwithdrlee.today" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Bonus: NAR's Fairhaven includes additional resource links and videos throughout with heart-wrenching stories of discrimination from actual real estate clients and testers. We might not have personally seen all of these forms of discrimination up close or even understand how insidious they can be, but NAR's Fairhaven gives us a bird’s-eye view of real and recent stories with quick access to additional information. No excuses.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnqyuoqJJbrMiHE7nPPtIfB5XtuTAm9QEiySmvc1Oc-gudR1ct1cJZw1TezLrjhU1B0z_NpvO8_VzyW489MILQhRfnZ22s9ZWOnIO47075MTOCPpZpxLwJ4KJogPvVGj-hmXyyZjQucc/s2048/fairhaven.realtorcour.png"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="2048" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBnqyuoqJJbrMiHE7nPPtIfB5XtuTAm9QEiySmvc1Oc-gudR1ct1cJZw1TezLrjhU1B0z_NpvO8_VzyW489MILQhRfnZ22s9ZWOnIO47075MTOCPpZpxLwJ4KJogPvVGj-hmXyyZjQucc/w640-h378/fairhaven.realtorcour.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><div><br /></div> <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39-So8RKs6lsAFP4MQB6FFK1SaevsX4Un9mzs4ceInOu-CDwxgHJIK7rbkaY6I0M13T3uySEmayZzHVHm1Z7H9g8zcrczxg5NhUd8-93DzemPxQNkowkGo6UAEg7MzWgD-NbQoBAjeac/s2048/Screen+Shot+2020-11-20+at+5.12.40+PM.png"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="2048" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh39-So8RKs6lsAFP4MQB6FFK1SaevsX4Un9mzs4ceInOu-CDwxgHJIK7rbkaY6I0M13T3uySEmayZzHVHm1Z7H9g8zcrczxg5NhUd8-93DzemPxQNkowkGo6UAEg7MzWgD-NbQoBAjeac/w640-h400/Screen+Shot+2020-11-20+at+5.12.40+PM.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> Furthermore, thank you NAR for getting our "heads out of the sand" of solely focusing only on fair housing in earshot of clients! This simulation touches water cooler conversations among our colleagues, along with our responsibility to speak up and even report them ("see something, say something" is not just for the NYC MTA). Additionally, in NAR's Fairhaven you get to step into the roles of clients facing discrimination on a few occasions, which hopefully helps further build deeper empathy in each of us. It sure did for me! I consider myself a champion of fair housing, and NAR's Fairhaven is making me go harder.  </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">NAR, Fairhaven is such a great start that I have to ask: May we please have a version of this that is in training module form so that brokers, managers and coaches can use these modules separately as part of office trainings and workshops? Modules would allow us to project to a classroom, jump around and spend time on topics that are most needed on a given day.  </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Coach's challenge: Have you experienced NAR's Fairhaven yet? The CDC has recommended we stay put as much as possible, but NAR's Fairhaven is a locale I hope you will visit before the year ends and will take others with you on the journey. </span></div>   <div><br /></div><div>  </div><div><b>Sound off -</b> I would love to hear from you!  Give me a shout on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LearnWithDrLee" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://instagram.com/learnwithdrlee" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instagram</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/leedavenport8?sub_confirmation=1" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">YouTube</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or by visiting </span><a href="http://www.learnwithdrlee.com/" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LearnWithDrLee.com</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.  </span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Want more of the best practices of our nation's top producers? Grab your copy of the short read, <b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.learnwithlee.realtor/p/resources.html" target="_blank">Profit with Your Personality</a> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and, the classic, 5-star rated workbook, </span><a href="http://amzn.com/1508652325" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Plan to Win</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to transform their real estate sales game plan. Or, get your "training on" with these <a href="http://vimeo.com/ondemand/learnwithdrlee" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">on-demand classes</span></b></a>. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's to your success! #LearnWithDrLee</span></div></div>

fair housing, fairhaven, inman news monthly column, realtor

Real (Estate) Talk: Neither fair nor a haven, NAR’s Fairhaven is just what we need

As featured in my monthly Inman News column .    'Another short sighted article by NAR on the more complex issues realtors and their br...

Real (Estate) Talk: Is RPAC Doing Right by Realtors?

<div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">As featured in my monthly <a href="https://www.inman.com/2020/11/19/real-estate-talk-is-rpac-doing-right-by-realtors/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Inman News column</span></a>.</span>  </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Let's be honest. When we say our country was founded on the belief that 'all men are created equal', we know that it has been a constant struggle to truly extend this sentiment to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/founding-fathers-and-slaveholders-72262393/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">all men</span></a>, regardless of color.  <br /><br /><br />When we say American women were allowed the right to vote in 1920 after an arduous movement, we know it has been an uphill battle to realize that for all women of color in every state, who <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">faced exclusionary tactics</span></a>.<br /><br /><br />When we say '<a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">the purpose of RPAC is clear</span></a>: voluntary contributions made by REALTORS® are used to help elect candidates who <b>understand and support their interests</b>', we also have to question does 'understand and support their interests' truly extend to people of color and those in protected classes?<br /><br /><br />In my home state, Georgia (you know the place that has a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/07/us/politics/georgia-senate-runoff-explainer.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">contentious run-off election</span></a> on January 5, 2021 that will decide the fate of the U.S. Senate), I received a postcard from <a href="http://REALTORSforPerdue.com"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">REALTORSforPerdue.com</span></a>. I initially was excited to read it because I was hopeful this was not skewed marketing propaganda from either the Democratic or Republican party but from my 'crew', REALTORS®. It outlined that incumbent Senator David Perdue is the candidate of choice because of his record on 'preventing excessive guarantee fee increases... on homebuyers in order to fund other government programs', 'encouraging... private insurance options for homeowners seeking affordable flood insurance alternatives', and supporting the Paycheck Protection Small Business Forgiveness Act.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGinCDaqVm8aLxTnKvTV5xfV5qL-ItsGUtMkIz2n83zdLsq8bML3kN2OCVkFWJOIpwrcZ1YmLf0lJOMZ5QQSp6rnhCrhHee3aHJcjYV4VSsxjRg9-7DuDn9ncKkz9cj4ziWZzblP_PLtc/s2048/IMG_4038.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGinCDaqVm8aLxTnKvTV5xfV5qL-ItsGUtMkIz2n83zdLsq8bML3kN2OCVkFWJOIpwrcZ1YmLf0lJOMZ5QQSp6rnhCrhHee3aHJcjYV4VSsxjRg9-7DuDn9ncKkz9cj4ziWZzblP_PLtc/w640-h640/IMG_4038.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Hear! Hear! Those are commendable and absolutely paramount to homeownership.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">BUT RPAC (REALTORS® Political Action Committee) left some vital things off this mailer. Where is information about Perdue's viewpoint on policies that affect fair housing and protected classes? At the least, there should have been something on Perdue's stance on the suspension of the AFFH process (which <a href="https://www.housingwire.com/articles/nar-comes-out-strong-against-affh-fair-housing-rule-termination/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">REALTORS® championed</span></a>). I flipped over the mailer and even read the fine print. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Here's the thing -- there is no perfect candidate and some of us may choose to split the ticket (<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/10/21/large-shares-of-voters-plan-to-vote-a-straight-party-ticket-for-president-senate-and-house/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">4% ticket-splitting</span></a> is a big deal in these close races and can drastically impact election results). Thus, it is imperative for our organization that represents us to give us a WHOLE picture.  For example, had this postcard had a quick-glance list or grid (for those that say there was only so much space to print) of all of the current issues relevant to different demographics including redlining (which is still in the news today, c.f. <a href="https://therealdeal.com/2020/10/30/redfin-accused-of-redlining-in-lawsuit/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">Redfin's alleged actions</span></a>) and fair housing and discrimination along with Perdue's stance and even action plan, then I could respect RPAC's rally cry for us to donate regularly to their efforts to parse out the candidate most aligned with 'our' values. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In other words, RPAC, can you please stop doling out parcels of information that may not truly reflect the varied interests of ALL REALTORS®, particularly those of us in protected classes? Please show us all candidates and their individual stances on <b>all things real estate</b>, which again should include fair housing, protected classes, and the current events that outflow.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I have contributed to RPAC each year hesitantly (I never could justify in my heart being a big donor) -- this overlooking of issues related to protected classes is precisely why. And, here is a secret, many of those that I have spoken with that do not contribute at all or very little, hold the same sentiment. Many of us do not care about being on the top of a tantalizing, 'Glamour Shots' pictorial donor list when we cannot come to terms with donating to something that does not overtly illuminate homeownership values relevant to every member, including protected classes.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">To really include the interests of protected classes, which represents part of the REALTOR® membership, would go a long way in helping marginalized members feel RPAC is a safe and brave space (truly working for all) that we should substantially support.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sound off -</b> I would love to hear from you!  Give me a shout on </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/LearnWithDrLee" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://instagram.com/learnwithdrlee" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instagram</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/leedavenport8?sub_confirmation=1" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">YouTube</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or by visiting </span><a href="http://www.learnwithdrlee.com/" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LearnWithDrLee.com</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.  </span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Want more of the best practices of our nation's top producers? Grab your copy of the short read, <b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.learnwithlee.realtor/p/resources.html" target="_blank">Profit with Your Personality</a> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and, the classic, 5-star rated workbook, </span><a href="http://amzn.com/1508652325" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Plan to Win</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to transform their real estate sales game plan. Or, get your "training on" with these <a href="http://vimeo.com/ondemand/learnwithdrlee" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">on-demand classes</span></b></a>. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's to your success! #LearnWithDrLee</span></div></div>

fair housing, inman news monthly column

Real (Estate) Talk: Is RPAC Doing Right by Realtors?

As featured in my monthly Inman News column .    Let's be honest. When we say our country was founded on the belief that 'all men ar...

Real (Estate) Talk: ‘I didn’t know you were...’ What it's like for me as a Black millennial female agent

<div><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: white;">As featured in my monthly </span><a href="https://www.inman.com/2020/10/22/real-estate-talk-what-its-like-for-me-as-a-black-millennial-female-agent/" style="background-color: #9fc5e8;" target="_blank"><span style="color: white;">Inman New Column</span></a><span style="background-color: white;">.  </span></span></p><blockquote style="background-color: white;"><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>‘You should be careful so no one mistakes you for a criminal’ while doorknocking </i></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>‘You would look sooooo good with your hair straight’  </i></span></p><p class="p2" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>‘You probably don’t have a college degree’ </i></span></p><p class="p2" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>‘This is YOUR property? But you are young, a woman, and Black!’ </i></span></p></blockquote><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">These are just a handful of the invalidating statements that I have heard over the 16 years that I have been a real estate investor, agent, broker, and international trainer/coach. </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">To make matters more convoluted, my first name, 'Lee' with its spelling to many seems like a man’s name for an older person and 'Davenport' does not announce my race as Black.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>In this online age, I have been privileged to connect with potential buyer and seller clients along with tenants for the properties I have owned by email. I have been able to build a faceless rapport and establish credibility as a resource leader. But when they have met me in person, I was and am often greeted with audible gasps. I have even had some bodacious prospects follow-up their gasps of disbelief with statements like:</span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></p><blockquote style="background-color: white;"><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>'I didn’t know you were a woman by your emails'</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>'I didn't expect you to be so young; how can you have enough experience?'</i></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>'I never thought you would be Black'</i></span></p></blockquote><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/question-mark-face-silhouette-bokeh-2405207/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqkIgkjE_s8RGbDCxOihKxyB6SsTK6JceLcPeMxQAp7_by-EF66h4M_8jyGFvPD2ubW9TpH0Uqg5OrtIG3hhcMQX4WlUPmy_ah7n9RQfUSKMVWX0h5JrWvEP9MW_vicqnW2bRXYWW0dY/w625-h416/question-mark-2405207_1280.jpg" title="Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay" width="625" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><br />From those statements, I felt like I have hit the holy trinity of what some would consider a losing jackpot, which was probably evident on my face. So as a consolation, they would sometimes quickly and other times grudgingly throw in a statement similar to: ‘BUT you are so savvy and resourceful, I STILL want to work with you.’</span><p style="background-color: white;"></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Shut the front door!</i> This hurts. If it were just once in a blue moon or a blue house, perhaps I would not remember these instances. Unfortunately, these were regular occurrences as I worked in the sales field.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">And these sentiments have not gone away as I work more in the office away from the field in training, development, and coaching. At times, neither my photo or bio are included in workshop promotions by different firms and associations, which never bothers me since the topic and the continuing education are what most care about and need. The result, however, is when seminar attendees get an opportunity to chat with me on breaks, it never fails that I hear at least one of the following:</span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></p><blockquote style="background-color: white;"><p class="p1" style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>‘I thought you would be Asian’<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>‘You look too young to have this experience’</i></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>‘Do you call yourself Dr., like Dr. Dre? You couldn’t possibly have that degree...’</i></span></p></blockquote><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i></i></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>What the fudge!</i> It’s like I am on a never-ending episode of the TV show ‘The Voice’, with not my singing career at stake, but my livelihood, and perhaps my life, are on the line as my face is revealed. I never hide my identity yet it seems people do not connect the dots either.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the beginning, I had resigned my thoughts to maybe there is just something about me <i>individually</i> that random people from all walks of life will barrage me with comments that attempt to disqualify me. Regardless, I was not going to let comments derail my personal ambitions. That was until I was asked to mentor a new agent to the realty firm where I was then working as a fairly new agent myself. I was scared to mentor... how could I help someone else at the beginning of my career? That was until the prospective mentee told me her story of how her previous team leader used verbal abuse and fear ‘telling her she couldn’t do this without him’. At that moment, I realized I was not the only one being minimized in pursuit of my real estate dreams. </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">I recognized then (and am driven by today) that there have to be voices that inspire us since there are inevitably voices that diminish us. The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071KVWLGC/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_chlzFbF6THDYN" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #6fa8dc;">book</span></b></a>, workshop, and coaching series, <i><b>Profit with Your Personality</b></i> (based on my <i>real</i> doctoral research), were birthed from this epiphany to help as many real estate professionals understand that we can grow our business with our innate strengths because ultimately we are all creative, resourceful, and whole people that likely just need strategy development. We don’t have to be cookie-cutters nor treated like incompetent buffoons. The nerve of some people! So I am determined to have the nerve to encourage and expand others.</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is just my story of microaggressions in the real estate industry that over time did more than sting -- they have wounded very deeply. It feels like 'death by a thousand cuts'. Yet, I know any of you that have been on the receiving end of nawsayers -- perhaps not because of your race, gender, or age but something else -- likely have your own involuntary ‘The Voice’ experiences like my first mentee, who happened to be White. </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><h1 style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: left; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">My Hope for Your Takeaway</span></h1><p class="p2" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Let's commit to not stand in the way of others shining. One way is if we normalize people showing up with whatever external cover they were born with, have aged into, or perhaps have chosen. This means we do not start sentences, even if it is meant as a compliment, with ‘I didn’t know you were...’ followed by a physical description. It often goes off the rails. We</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">will likely find that our businesses and even lives will be enhanced by those whom on the surface we might have disqualified and discounted but they have 'The Voice' -- interesting and useful insight and perspective.</span><span class="Apple-converted-space" style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; white-space: normal;"> </p></span></div><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sound off -</b> I would love to hear from you!  Give me a shout on </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/LearnWithDrLee" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://instagram.com/learnwithdrlee" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instagram</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/leedavenport8?sub_confirmation=1" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">YouTube</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or by visiting </span><a href="http://www.learnwithdrlee.com/" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LearnWithDrLee.com</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.  </span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Want more of the best practices of our nation's top producers? Grab your copy of the short read, <b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.learnwithlee.realtor/p/resources.html" target="_blank">Profit with Your Personality</a> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and, the classic, 5-star rated workbook, </span><a href="http://amzn.com/1508652325" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Plan to Win</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to transform their real estate sales game plan. Or, get your "training on" with these <a href="http://vimeo.com/ondemand/learnwithdrlee" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">on-demand classes</span></b></a>. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's to your success! #LearnWithDrLee</span>

inman news monthly column

Real (Estate) Talk: ‘I didn’t know you were...’ What it's like for me as a Black millennial female agent

As featured in my monthly Inman New Column .   ‘You should be careful so no one mistakes you for a criminal’ while doorknocking  ‘You woul...

‘There goes the neighborhood’: The history of race and U.S. homeownership

<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">As featured and adapted for my monthly Fair Housing <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><a href="https://www.inman.com/2020/07/15/there-goes-the-neighborhood-the-history-of-race-and-homeownership/" target="_blank"><span>Inman News Column</span></a>.</span>  </b><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /> <div dir="auto"> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81EuA9733UhWHkvH7E9uHhOUU4TDQSN4fu0TqTlUAEO0wf18s1oCMy6hOXC0YPD3XKTHyxZjUbDQrB0umoqbHr_PAMQnGsNlIZJkY8vfjOewsCwS-d1psHjz_Ii8GE-b-j8xS_ubgcS0/s1600/crowd-2045499_1920.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81EuA9733UhWHkvH7E9uHhOUU4TDQSN4fu0TqTlUAEO0wf18s1oCMy6hOXC0YPD3XKTHyxZjUbDQrB0umoqbHr_PAMQnGsNlIZJkY8vfjOewsCwS-d1psHjz_Ii8GE-b-j8xS_ubgcS0/s640/crowd-2045499_1920.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <b>Can You Relate?</b></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> Friends, imagine hopping in a Delorean and going back to middle school as a student.  It is your first day at a new school. The bell rings, flooding the hallway with gangly 'tweens headed to the cafeteria. You grab a tray of food and head to the first empty table you see. As you try to sit, you stumble because the chair is snatched from under you with an abrupt mumble, "This is reserved." You shrug compliantly and head to the next vacant seat. "Nooo. My friend is going to sit there," purrs another student. "Taken." "Get lost." "Keep it moving." Before long, you notice there is no place left for you to sit in the cafeteria.  Eventually, you pull a chair from a classroom up to a lunch table but everyone at that table is told by the "lunch lady" and then the principal that they will lose lunch privileges if you are allowed to sit with them. Naturally, everyone at that table scatters like you have the dreaded middle school cooties. You become "Lonely Leslie the Loser" for which you are teased and bullied for the rest of the school year. Oh, what you wouldn't give to be welcomed at someone's lunch table! You would even share your favorite bag of chips and that is saying something.  You are a student at this school, yet you have been treated as if you don't belong.<br /> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <div class="gmail_default"> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> How would you feel?<br /> <br /></div> <div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> Sadly, we know that such exclusion and bullying have driven some students to do desperate, harmful acts to themselves and/or others.  Unfortunately, we do not become immune to being ostracized just because we are decade(s) removed from middle school. Hopefully, this illustration gives insight into the demoralizing nature of i<span face=""roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">nvidious, exclusionary</span> treatment, particularly when it is enforced by the administrative powers that be, no matter our age.</div> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <b>When Our "Living" Was Labeled "Invading"</b></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <b><br /></b></div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpHW0Jp1HY0ffkBFppFSrXRkRoLcrlTk-hD2aO_nj1t0XNfk6FEHBw7ZnRV4wWWxXPwM5EdkKni_TZjrZAwarsK9mrHzC9CX8-uy6zwFSCGQX8mnrC_M1VEserwfcnQenjjDCawQTJXU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-25+at+9.41.52+PM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="924" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpHW0Jp1HY0ffkBFppFSrXRkRoLcrlTk-hD2aO_nj1t0XNfk6FEHBw7ZnRV4wWWxXPwM5EdkKni_TZjrZAwarsK9mrHzC9CX8-uy6zwFSCGQX8mnrC_M1VEserwfcnQenjjDCawQTJXU/s640/Screen+Shot+2020-06-25+at+9.41.52+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reference: <span style="color: blue;"><b><a href="https://erenow.net/modern/color-of-law-forgotten-history/4.php"><span style="color: blue;">https://erenow.net/modern/color-of-law-forgotten-history/4.php</span></a> </b></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Now, let's go back further than your days in middle school and examine a thorny time in our history that has warped Black homeownership to this day. <i>Doc, Marty, channel the flux capacitor!</i><br /> <br /> Slavery ended (hi, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-juneteenth/"><span style="color: blue;">Juneteenth</span></a>) and the former enslaved African descendants and slave masters lived happily ever after... is the fairytale ending that we wish were true but like all relationships, it was and is much more complicated.<br /> <br /> Many Black families simply wanted a "seat at the lunch table" by being homeowners in the communities near their jobs. Yet, they were harshly deemed "invaders" (see the ad above) -- like Martians from out of this world rather than humans beings who were already contributing members to the community.   And, it is no secret that invasions leave behind ruins... "There goes the neighborhood".<br /> <br /> This invidious sentiment of "there goes the neighborhood" in reference to Black families (and at times to immigrants and their families) living among Whites was such a pervasive fear, it was <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/on-common-ground/learning-from-our-past-the-history-of-the-fair-housing-act" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">codified among our now more inclusive association</span></a>:</div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-size: large;"> <div class="gmail-p1" style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> <br /></div> </div> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOCmW5EJnHfbehpx679y-UuGohB6nGJLOqirfEwoQnXO_eWHjgBe7bx1QESPq4DqkbnQpAsJa_nCzvgv1fd8kjRP40iKa4chxWQrkoCoEIwtSQm06OO5gEPf_8VWePcI_UTGOe0T6Yd8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-25+at+9.58.32+PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="1360" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOCmW5EJnHfbehpx679y-UuGohB6nGJLOqirfEwoQnXO_eWHjgBe7bx1QESPq4DqkbnQpAsJa_nCzvgv1fd8kjRP40iKa4chxWQrkoCoEIwtSQm06OO5gEPf_8VWePcI_UTGOe0T6Yd8/s640/Screen+Shot+2020-06-25+at+9.58.32+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Reference:<a href="https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2019/02/with-covenants-racism-was-written-into-minneapolis-housing-the-scars-are-still-visible/" target="_blank"> <span style="color: blue;">https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2019/02/with-covenants-racism-was-written-into-minneapolis-housing-the-scars-are-still-visible/</span></a></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <div dir="auto"> <div class="gmail_default"> <div dir="auto"> <div class="gmail_default"> <div dir="auto"> <div class="gmail_default"> Adding fuel to the fire, <a href="https://www.lscny.org/app/uploads/2019/08/The-Color-of-Law-Timeline.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">explicit discrimination against Blacks and others was federally sanctioned</span></a> with a heavy hand that penalized not only Blacks but those that dared to live among us:<br /> <br /> <br /></div> <div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> 1934 -- The newly created Federal Housing Administration (FHA) refused to insure mortgages in communities with even one Black household (some private and state entities like Bank of America and Prudential Life Insurance Company already practiced discrimination by denying qualified Black clients but the government upped the ante).<br /> <br /> <br /></div> </div> <div dir="auto"> <div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> 1936 -- The FHA Underwriting manual recommended deed restrictions (racial covenants) and redlined areas to exclude and segregate Blacks.<br /> <br /></div> </div> <div> </div> <blockquote> Envision having a stable, well-paying job with Ford Motor Company (giving you the financial means of your peers) but only having one option for housing. Housing that likely was in the least desirable areas of town due to pollution/toxics (due to proximity to factories and other work sites) and overcrowding.  Housing that for you cost more than the going rate, which was compounded by being denied mortgage and insurance by both governmental and many private providers.  Regrettably, many Black Americans <i><b>did</b></i> live this in even some of the most progressive American cities (like San Francisco) as the aftermath of these structural decisions (c.f. <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-color-of-law-richard-rothstein/1124822159"><span style="color: blue;">The Color of Law</span></a>).</blockquote> <br /> <div> </div> <div dir="auto"> <div class="gmail_default"> 1944 & 1956 -- To add insult to injury, the Federal Highway Act was used to demolish close-knit Black communities, <a href="https://www.nashville.gov/Portals/0/SiteContent/Planning/docs/trans/EveryPlaceCounts/1_Highway%20to%20Inequity.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">displacing families</span></a> that were restricted from living elsewhere.<br /> <br /></div> <div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> <br /> It was not until the Fair Housing Act of 1968 <b><i>with</i></b> its amendments in 1974 and 1988 that the tides began to slowly change. But, it is evident with the latest HUD report on <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/Publications/pdf/HUD-514_HDS2012_execsumm.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">Housing Discrimination Against Racial and Ethnic Minorities</span></a> and <a href="https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/"><span style="color: blue;">last year's Newsday Real Estate Exposé</span></a> plus the examples below, even today we still have more work to do.</div> </div> <div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <b>Despite Legalized Discrimination, We Tried to "Pull Ourselves Up by Our Bootstraps"</b></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /> <div> <div> Out of the huts of history’s shame</div> <div> I rise</div> <div> Up from a past that’s rooted in pain</div> <div> I rise</div> <div> --Maya Angelou</div> <div> <br /></div> <div> <div> Homeownership matters for everyone because it is often the single largest factor in wealth building that creates a generational legacy along with determining the public education quality of our children.  But for American Blacks, there was more than legal hurdles at stake for land and learning.  Livelihood and life itself were in jeopardy. </div> <div> <br /></div> <div> As some of the darkest moments in the recent past, you may know about the annihilation of <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/rosewood-massacre&source=gmail&ust=1593218413441000&usg=AFQjCNGej3wHXZHa9VlnH9-KQAMHxarshw" href="https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/rosewood-massacre" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Rosewood</span></a> and <span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.history.com/news/black-wall-street-tulsa-race-massacre&source=gmail&ust=1593218413441000&usg=AFQjCNHM1b2OpaSd9VbIbB0eEdVyAdxEtQ" href="https://www.history.com/news/black-wall-street-tulsa-race-massacre" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Tulsa's Black Wall Street</span></a>.</span> </span>But there are similar disheartening instances of industrious, "making lemonade out of damaged lemons" Black real estate communities mangled throughout America -- like:<br /> <br /></div> <div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nyhistory.org/sites/default/files/Seneca_Village_NYHS.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1593218413441000&usg=AFQjCNGGOM4x5eWZoxFF0A8MxwWub9Q4Ww" href="https://www.nyhistory.org/sites/default/files/Seneca_Village_NYHS.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Manhattan's confiscated land</span></a> (you know what type of inheritance and generational wealth a Manhattan Central Park address could have offered),<br /> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ncpedia.org/wilmington-race-riot&source=gmail&ust=1593218413441000&usg=AFQjCNEcuvLIh6J4Nc3V6X2vjz03f3W7cA" href="https://www.ncpedia.org/wilmington-race-riot" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Wilmington Race Riot</span></a> to overthrow the Black politicians,<br /> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/03/opinion/how-a-brutal-race-riot-shaped-modern-chicago.html"><span style="color: blue;">Chicago's Hyde Park Bombings</span></a> and "Black Belt" race riot,<br /> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://wdet.org/posts/2015/10/19/81771-curiosid-how-a-1900s-black-detroit-community-was-razed-for-a-freeway/&source=gmail&ust=1593218413441000&usg=AFQjCNGDBEbrgx9XxT47pnmafFZnAiv34w" href="https://wdet.org/posts/2015/10/19/81771-curiosid-how-a-1900s-black-detroit-community-was-razed-for-a-freeway/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Detroit's Black Bottom</span></a> decimated for I-75,<br /> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/5272"><span style="color: blue;">Levittown Riots</span></a> over first Black family,<br /> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/828/355/368664/"><span style="color: blue;">Sylvania, KY's</span></a> first Black family firebombed in 1985,<br /> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a32719786/george-floyd-protests-riots-black-comminity-destruction-history/&source=gmail&ust=1593218413441000&usg=AFQjCNFAjC5VZohWMcZGqOrHjJN6l7j_hQ" href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a32719786/george-floyd-protests-riots-black-comminity-destruction-history/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">West Philly's 1985</span></a> bombings, where the homes of Black families were allowed to burn,<br /> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6335033/&source=gmail&ust=1593218413441000&usg=AFQjCNFZc-83D24s1lPCvgejgmX13oXMKQ" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6335033/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Predatory Lending Fallout</span></a> of 2008 - 2010<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/the-assessment-gap-racial-inequalities-in-property-taxation/215957a4-d5ad-47cd-821a-070cf23b6bc7/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Ongoing excessive Property Taxation</span></a></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /> And Others</div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Just to name only a few, the above signify discrimination at its worst with the refusal, dismantling, displacement, undue taxation and/or confiscation of the land of Black communities, where Black advancement was attempted even with meager resources from the table before obstructions.</div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Basically, the bully (discrimination) even took our boots.<br /> <br /> “It's all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.”<br /> ― Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.</div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Have you ever seen someone throw one's best dinnerware at the wall out of frustration?  In the heat of the moment, this reaction may feel vindicating but likely the person will regret the destruction inflicted on that favorite serving dish that may be irreplaceable.  Likewise, to complicate matters after (inter)national atrocities (like the murders of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. up to the recent George Floyd), some Blacks have aired our frustrations and pain through the destruction of our own neighborhoods (as seen in the self-inflicted riots of 1968 up to 2020). </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> But make no mistake, all of this destruction no matter by whose hands, is an outflow of the egregious <i>de jure</i> and <i>de facto</i> disregard for and discrimination against Black peoples' pursuit of property, life, and happiness.</div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Literally, there went the neighborhoods.</div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <b><br /></b></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <div dir="auto"> <div class="gmail_default"> <b>This Moment Feels Different</b></div> <div class="gmail_default"> <b><br /></b></div> <div class="gmail_default"> Resources at the government and private level have been offered at predatory rates (as shown above), reneged, pilfered, or outright denied for Blacks in pursuit of the touted American dream of homeownership ultimately since the Emancipation Proclamation. It is like being stuck in a bullying middle school for over 157 years, Egad! And like, bullying, which is best combated with anti-bullying tactics, we now have a chance as anti-racism is taking center stage in an unprecedented movement to change the old prophecy.</div> <div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> <br /> At long last, we can invite everyone to our "lunch table" by ensuring that all would-be home buyers, sellers, and tenants (particularly all underrepresented) receive standardized education about:<br /> <br /></div> </div> <div> </div> <div dir="auto"> <div class="gmail_default" style="padding-left: 80px;"> <strong><br /></strong> <strong>The tenets of Fair Housing,</strong><br /> <strong><br /></strong></div> <div style="padding-left: 80px;"> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="padding-left: 80px;"> <strong>Predatory lending practices (recognizing and avoiding),</strong><br /> <strong><br /></strong></div> </div> <div style="padding-left: 40px;"> </div> <div dir="auto" style="padding-left: 40px;"> <div class="gmail_default" style="padding-left: 40px;"> <strong>Deceptive marketing practices </strong><strong>(recognizing and avoiding)</strong><strong>,</strong><br /> <strong><br /></strong></div> <div style="padding-left: 40px;"> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="padding-left: 40px;"> <strong>Legitimate and reputable credit repair,</strong><br /> <strong><br /></strong></div> <div style="padding-left: 40px;"> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="padding-left: 40px;"> <strong>Ownership rights (e.g. what rights do you have with eminent domain? etc.), </strong><br /> <strong><br /></strong> <b>Taxation (benefits of appeals and exemptions),</b><br /> <strong><br /></strong></div> <div class="gmail_default" style="padding-left: 40px;"> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="padding-left: 40px;"> <strong>Downpayment funding and grants, and</strong><br /> <strong><br /></strong></div> <div style="padding-left: 40px;"> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="padding-left: 40px;"> <strong>The long-term effects of various real estate deals for the good of one's family legacy and community.  </strong><br /> <strong><br /></strong></div> <div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> <div class="gmail_default"> Friends, in the spirit of love for this beautiful land, I hope you, your team, your firm, and our associations will add standardized anti-discriminatory practices to educate all communities with the above, such as creating regularly scheduled webinars, social media campaigns, preprinted materials, mailers, email campaigns, and video series.  As extra-credit, let's build and use more <i><b>virtual</b></i> home showings and loan applications (which the pandemic has helped normalize) to reduce the incidence of discrimination based on visible racial features still prevalent at in-person meetings as of the last <strong><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/Publications/pdf/HUD-514_HDS2012_execsumm.pdf"><span style="color: blue;">HUD Report</span></a>,</span> <a href="https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/lendingtree-study-black-homebuyers-more-likely-to-be-denied-mortgages-than-other-homebuyers/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">LendingTree Mortgage Study</span></a>, and <a href="https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/"><span style="color: blue;">Newsweek's Exposé</span></a></strong>.<br /> <br /> Perhaps we will be able to finally pivot the panic-inducing, discriminatory prophecy "there goes the neighborhood" to an elated and welcoming "there <em>grows</em> the neighborhood!"</div> <div class="gmail_default"> </div> </div> <div class="gmail_default"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <br /></div> </div> <span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sound off -</b> I would love to hear from you!  Give me a shout on </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/LearnWithDrLee" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Facebook</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="https://instagram.com/learnwithdrlee" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instagram</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/leedavenport8?sub_confirmation=1" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">YouTube</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or by visiting </span><a href="http://www.learnwithdrlee.com/" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LearnWithDrLee.com</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.  </span><br /> <span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Want more of the best practices of our nation's top producers? Grab your copy of the short read, <b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.learnwithlee.realtor/p/resources.html" target="_blank">Profit with Your Personality</a> </span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and, the classic, 5-star rated workbook, </span><a href="http://amzn.com/1508652325" style="background-color: white; font-family: times; line-height: 22.08px; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Plan to Win</span></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, to transform their real estate sales game plan. Or, get your "training on" with these <a href="http://vimeo.com/ondemand/learnwithdrlee" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">on-demand classes</span></b></a>. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's to your success! #LearnWithDrLee</span>

anti-discrimination, anti-racism, inman news monthly column

‘There goes the neighborhood’: The history of race and U.S. homeownership

As featured and adapted for my monthly Fair Housing  Inman News Column .    Can You Relate? Friends, imagine hopping in a Delo...